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How Good is Breastfeeding, Really?

Human milk contains carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins and trace elements. So does infant formula. But the bioavailability (the amount of a nutrient that the body can actually absorb) of the nutrients in each fluid differs markedly. For example, human babies can absorb 67% of the calcium in human milk compared to only 25% of the calcium in cow's milk (the foundation of most infant formulas). Similarly, a human infant can absorb up to 50% of the iron in human milk, but only 10% of the iron in cow's milk and just 4% of the iron in iron-fortified formulas. Breastfed babies are rarely iron deficient because of the high lactose and vitamin C levels in human milk that facilitate iron absorption. The concentration of the ingredients also differs. Cow's milk has more phosphorus than human milk. The excess phosphorous leads to decreased absorption and increased excretion of calcium by the formula fed baby.resulting in higher rates of neonatal hypocalcemia (abnormally low levels of calcium) and tetany (e.g., muscle cramps and spasms, marked jitteryness or even convulsive seizures).

There are ingredients in breastmilk that cannot be duplicated in a factory because breastmilk is a living biological fluid; it contains, for example, hormones, active enzymes, growth factors, immunoglobulins, anti-inflammatory components, cytokines (involved in immune function) and other compounds with unique structures. These special ingredients allow breastmilk to stimulate and support the maturation of the nursling's immune system, as well as the growth and maturation of other organ systems.

Human milk is designed to meet the particular needs of human babies. And a particular mother's milk is designed to meet the needs of her baby. For example, when a baby is exposed to viruses and bacteria, he passes them on to his mother through breastfeeding. In turn, the mother's body produces the exact antibodies needed to help her baby's immature immune system fight those specific viruses and bacteria. The amount and type of nutrients, growth factors and immunological components of breastmilk continually change in response to the dynamic needs of the nursling so that the contents of each mother's milk varies during a feeding, in the course of a day, and throughout the duration of breastfeeding.